plausibility

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The quality of deserving applause, praiseworthiness; something worthy of praise.

   integrity, fidelity, and other gracious plausibilities

2. 2
   noun

   The appearance of truth, especially when deceptive; speciousness.

   Plausibility, I know, can only be unmasked by shewing the absurdities it glosses over, and the simple truths it involves with specious errors.

3. 3
   noun

   A plausible statement, argument etc.

   She too must shimmer through the gloom o' the grave, / Come and confront me— […] / Striking me dumb, and helping her to speak, / Tell her own story her own way, and turn / My plausibility to nothingness!

4. 4
   noun

   The fact of being believable; believability, credibility.

   The question of the plausibility of the counter-factual is seen as key in all three discussions of allohistorical fiction (as it is in Demandt's and Ferguson's examinations of allohistory) (cf. Rodiek 25–26; Ritter 15–16; Helbig 32).

5. 5
   noun

   apparent validity

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin plausibilitās.